The invention relates to apparatus for treating food by separation of the outer portion. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus for removing the shells from nuts, especially "table nuts" such as pecans, filberts, and Brazil nuts.
This invention is an alternative model to my previous nutcracker disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,922, issued in 1983. The present model is cheaper and easier to manufacture than the previous model because the adjustment for nut size is manual in the former, rather than automatic as in the latter. However, they are similar in that the same toggle concept is used in both to obtain the maximum cracking force without over cracking the nut.
The nutcracker, as such, has long been known, of course. Many types are on the market, ranging from the familiar hand nutcracker to elaborate electrical contrivances. There is, however, still a need for a simple, efficient, home nutcracker which can be used when a large quantity of nuts must be cracked, for example in cooking.
In the case of nuts such as pecans, or other similar nuts, it is important to be able to crack the shell of the nut without damaging the meat inside, which is prone to break if the nut is "over cracked". When the nut meats are to be used in cooking, and thus are needed in quantity, much time can be lost in picking pieces of shell apart from the broken nutmeat. Small pieces can be lost or wasted. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a nutcracker which can crack the shells of nuts with minimal damage to the meat.
The fact that nuts vary considerably in size aggravates the problem of accurate cracking. If the nutcracker must be readjusted for each nut, much time will be wasted. Moreover, mis-adjustment will result in broken nutmeat, and thus waste. It is, therefore, an additional object of the present invention to provide a nutcracker which may initially be set for nut size with the aid of an index marker, such that further adjustment is not necessary for nuts which are similar in size.
It is another object to provide a nutcracker which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, yet rugged and long-lasting in operation.
It is yet another object of the present invention is to provide a nutcracker which is fast to operate, while still being safe to use.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a nutcracker which is easy to use, fast, and efficient.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon further examination of this disclosure.